Mahmoud Abbas: Jerusalem only has Islamic and Christian history
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=6854
May 10, 2012
Mahmoud Abbas:
Jerusalem only has Islamic and Christian history, Israel's "Judaization" is stealing Jerusalem's "cultural, human, and Islamic-Christian religious history"
Mahmoud Abbas' advisor:
Israel is creating "artificial heritage with a Jewish spirit at the expense of its [Jerusalem's] true and authentic [identity] as an Arab, Islamic and Christian city"
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority continue to deny Israel's 3,000 years of history in Jerusalem, claiming it is solely an Arab, Muslim and Christian city. Earlier this month, Abbas referred to Israel's presence and activities in Jerusalem as "Judaization" and stated that Israel is stealing what he called the "cultural, human, and Islamic-Christian religious history."
Last month, Abbas' advisor for Jerusalem said that Israel is trying:
"to create an artificial heritage with a Jewish spirit at the expense of its true and authentic [identity] as an Arab, Islamic and Christian city."
This is not the first time that Abbas has denied Jewish history in Jerusalem and claimed the city for Islam alone. Palestinian Media Watch has reported that Mahmoud Abbas said that taking Jerusalem from Israel is a religious Islamic obligation of the highest level, a "fard ayn" - a personal Islamic commandment incumbent on every Muslim:
"I say to the leaders of our Arab nation and to its peoples: Jerusalem and its environs are a trust that Allah entrusted to us. Saving it [Jerusalem] from the settlement monster and the danger of Judaization and [land] confiscation is a personal [Islamic] commandment [Arabic: fard ayn] incumbent on all of us. Therefore, I call all of you to serious and urgent action to save [Jerusalem] and to make available all possibilities in order to strengthen our resolve and to maintain its historical, cultural and religious character."
[Al-Jazeera TV, March 27, 2010]
In a different speech, Abbas said in 2010:
"The oppressor will not last in Jerusalem; the oppression will not endure. Victory will come, Allah willing. This land is Allah's best land, for which He chooses the finest of His believers, as it is written in the words of the Prophet [Muhammad]." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 11, 2010]